Colt
by supernatural.psyche
Summary: A hunt gone wrong leaves Sam in pain in more ways than one... WARNING FOR MAJOR ANGST


_A short one-shot._

_A hunt gone wrong leaves Sam in pain in more ways than one..._

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Even at night, the heat blazed with enough moisture that a fish could survive on land.

That is, if it didn't bake first.

The darkness was relieved by the light of the nearly full moon, but the heat would not be assuaged.

Sam's shaggy hair was plastered to his forehead as drops of sweat trickled from the strands. The young hunter wiped his brow with his uninjured arm, but he might as well have not even bothered since his bare arm was just as sweaty as his face. His right arm throbbed, dried blood caking the tourniquet made from his belt, and the salt from his sweating body made it burn and sting as if whiskey was being poured into the wound. Sam gritted his teeth against the pain and fought with his bruised ribs to draw air into his lungs as he rested against the base of an old pine tree. He slid the chamber of the Colt out from the body of the gun and reloaded the slots with silver bullets. After clicking the chamber back into place, he took a deep breath, or as deep of one as his sore ribs would allow, and pushed himself to his feet with more than a little help from the pine.

The werewolf he was chasing was smart, leading him into the woods at the edge of town. In the unrelieved darkness of the forest, the creature would have the advantage. Sam knew it was suicide to follow the shape shifter into the gloom, but he also knew that he had to save his brother. His jaw clenched and the pain flashing in his eyes had very little to do with his physical injuries. He staggered away from the tree and stepped into the murky shadows.

Giving his eyes a moment to adjust, he strained his ears for any sound, any movement in the undergrowth.

Silence.

Complete and utter silence.

The night creatures had fled in fear of one far more deadly.

The immense _stillness_ was more menacing than the most bloodcurdling scream.

Suddenly, such a howl recoiled through the night, causing Sam to rethink his previous notion.

His heart sank as the growl filled the forest and sent shivers dancing along his spine and raised the hair at the nape of his neck. The weary hunter tensed for a fight but couldn't ascertain from where the sound had originated.

As the echoes of the growl faded, the woods grew quiet once more.

Every muscle tightened and strained as Sam stepped farther into blackness.

Without even the warning of a howl this time, sharp claws suddenly ripped into the hunter's shoulder, spinning him around to face the snarling creature. Pain exploded through Sam as he fell to his knees onto the mossy ground. The werewolf howled and crouched, poised to strike.

Sam lifted the gun, staring down the barrel at the monster before him, as tears pooled in his eyes and his face threatened to crumble.

"I'm sorry," he whispered brokenly just as the werewolf leapt and a shot echoed through the forest.

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Sam was sprawled limply at the base of another pine, his damaged right shoulder out to the side of the massive trunk.

Not that he cared.

About his shoulder, his arm, his ribs. None of it mattered to him in the least.

_Nothing _mattered anymore.

Gun in hand, his left arm rested on his drawn-up knee, while the other leg stretched seemingly forever out in front of him.

His thumb idly cocked and released the hammer, the tiny _pings _from the movement echoing through the quiet woods, though not as quiet as before. Life had returned to the forest.

But the werewolf still lay dead at his feet.

His _brother_ still lay dead at his feet.

Tears ran unchecked down the distraught hunter's face.

"I'm sorry," he whispered again as his lips trembled and his jaw quivered.

"God. I am…" He broke off, looking away, and bit his lip until he tasted blood.

Not that he cared about that either.

"It was my _job_. To watch out for you. To…" his stomach clenched, "To take _care _of you." He barked a harsh laugh. "God knows somebody had to. You wouldn't do it yourself. But apparently," the sinewy tendons of his throat worked painfully as his soulful gaze returned to the cold body lying in the dirt in front of him, and he vehemently damned the mutant gene or whatever the hell it was that made the werewolf revert into its human form upon its death. It would be bad enough to stare at his dead brother in the form of the monster he had become, but it was absolute torture on his soul to be faced with the visual reminder that he had killed his own flesh and blood. More tears spilled out onto his cheeks and he had to swallow past the lump in his throat in order to continue, "Apparently, I couldn't do it for you, either. I couldn't save you…"

His thumb ceased its movement of cocking and releasing the hammer. Pulling it back once last time, he slowly lifted the gun to his temple.

"And now I don't give a _damn_ about saving myself."

The nocturnal creatures of the woods scattered once more at the sound of the second gunshot.

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Sam found himself lying facedown in the dirt yards from the tree he'd been reclining against. His ears were still ringing from the gun blast, and when he managed to turn his head to the side to draw in air, he noticed that the gun was lying about the same distance away from the tree in the opposite direction.

_What the hell? _

Before his mind could form a more coherent thought, a smooth, female voice chimed out softly from the darkest part of the forest.

"You were really going to do it, weren't you?"

Sam clenched his eyes shut and painstakingly rolled to a sitting position, using a large rock behind him for support.

"What the hell do _you _care, Ruby?"

"Sam." Her voice softened on the name, and she strode over to the wounded hunter and crouched at his side, her hand on his uninjured shoulder. Sympathy burned in her green eyes, her dark brown hair falling around her soft face.

Sam refused to look her in the eye, instead glaring out at the forest.

"Why'd you have to interfere? Huh?" Suddenly, those hate-filled eyes were trained on the demon at his side. "Why couldn't you just let me do it!" he roared.

He shoved her away with his good arm and rose to his feet unsteadily, using the rock to brace himself.

Sprawled backward on the ground, her voice turned hard, almost desperate. She rose from the dirt floor as she yelled back, "Let you do it? You mean, why couldn't I just let you _kill yourself?_ Sam! Do you _really _think that's what he would have wanted for you?! That he would have wanted you to blow what little brains you have out of your skull and splatter them on some damn tree in the forest?!"

The demon gasped as she found herself pinned to the tree behind her with a rock-steady hand at her throat.

Even though Sam was badly hurt, he still had impressive speed.

"Shut. Up. You don't... You couldn't possibly…" He broke off as his voice threatened to tremble just like his jaw. He released his grip at Ruby's throat and turned, running a hand through his shaggy hair. "You could _never _understand. He was my brother. My. _Little_. Brother." His voice went to shreds on the last words.

Ruby swallowed and stepped away from the tree. Her voice steady, she replied, "I know. And you're Sam Colt. Who is still alive, I might add."

Sam whipped back around to the demon and swayed on his feet. Catching himself on a nearby branch, he gave Ruby a deadly glare as she moved to help him, freezing her in her tracks. "Yeah I'm still alive. No thanks to you."

Sam would have sworn that her eyes filled with tears. "What was _I _supposed to do, Sam? Watch you put that gun to your head and pull the trigger?" There was steel in her voice as she continued, "You can't just give up, Sam."

"Oh yeah? Watch me."

He pushed away from the branch he was clinging to and staggered over to the gun lying on the ground, steadfastly refusing to glance at his brother's corpse fifteen feet away. His entire right arm had grown stiff, and the slightest movement was agony, but he bit down on his full lower lip, still sore from his earlier bite, and fought through the pain. He managed to snag the gun and turn back in Ruby's direction in one movement.

She hadn't moved an inch.

Even though she stood no more than a half dozen yards from him, her voice was distant. And sad. "You know what? Do whatever you want. You always do, anyway." Sam shifted his gaze to the gun in his hand as anger sparked not only in her voice as she continued, but in her manner, as well, "But you _think_, Samuel Colt. You think about all the people that are going to die if you do. And then you think even harder that if you kill yourself now, Hank would have died for _nothing_."

Sam's head shot up, his jaw clenched in anger that far outweighed hers.

"Shoot me if it will make you feel better, Sam. But you and I both know that that gun won't do me any permanent damage, presently. You, however…" She slowly shook her head then met Sam's eyes.

Sam looked away from her direct gaze.

Hers dropped to the forest floor as she spoke softly. "Well, if you _do _change your mind, try not to damage that gun. It might come in handy later."

Sam's eyebrows drew together and his lips parted to question her, but when he turned back in her direction, she was gone.

_Oh well. Doesn't matter anyway…_ he told himself.

He took a deep breath and once again lifted the muzzle to his temple. But out of the corner of his eye, he saw his brother lying on the dirt and vegetation of the forest. The gun in his hand shook as he realized that he didn't want to, that he _couldn't, _leave Hank like that. His brother needed a funeral pyre. If he was just left to… deteriorate… out in the forest, there was no telling what he could become. And, Sam realized, the same went for him.

As Ruby's words about saving people and Hank's death not being for nothing flowed through his mind, he realized that he really didn't have a choice. He leaned his head back, closed his eyes, and took a hitching breath. With one hand, he opened the chamber of the gun and emptied the contents onto the ground, rendering it useless. The gun soon followed the bullets as it slipped from Sam's numb fingers. Releasing a moan, the tormented hunter fell to his knees, and the forest soon echoed with his agonized sobs.

~The End~

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I posted this fic on another site and got only one comment. :|

I really would love to get some reviews on here. :)


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